While the Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups are glitzening in the sun since it re-opened in early May after extensive cleaning (especially of the roof structure, which even continued for several days after the attraction had reopened) and a major rehab of the ride’s mechanics two one other major rehab projects are is still going on: The popular attraction of Dumbo is closed, just as And a third major rehab was just finished at the end of the past week: the childrens’ coaster “Casey Jr.” and the fairytale boat ride around whichs canals the coaster track bends as well have just reopened. All three attractions are Dumbo is scheduled to open only on July 3rd. However, there is a reason for that – and it is not a cost saving measure …

For the rehab of Dumbo not only the actual ride and it’s queue area has been closed off behind construction fences but also the waterways in front of it, as construction fences were also set up along the paths on the shores opposite of the attraction to hide as much as possible of the work from the sight of the guests. Nevertheless a closer look in mid-May – as documented in the photos accompanying this post – revealed that nearly the complete ride mechanics had been dismantled. I.e. the arms holding each ride vehicle had been dismantled and taken off. Also the canvas function as roofs above the elevated queue area had been taken off leaving only the steel structure standing.

The work at the rehab of Casey Jr. and the fairytale boat ride is was much better hidden from the sigh of guests. Access to the expansion plot at the back of Fantasyland beyond the railroad track has had been completely blocked by a construction fence at the bottom of the access path right where it crosses under the railroad track. But guests do did not even get that far, as access to the path is was blocked by a rope next to the Old Mill, where a sign informs informed guests that the attractions will would only re-open in summer (it was expected that this would mean July 3rd according to the current schedules  as well however this was wrong as it turned out).

So what is was going on behind the fence during the rehab? What can could be seen from inside the park is was that the canals have had been completely drained and are were cleaned. In addition the miniature sets on the shores are were being spruced up once again. In mid-May scaffolding surrounded the castle of Belle and the Beast / her prince on the hill above the canals (just a few parts of the scaffolding can be seen above and in-between the trees in the photo below).

Thanks to David for an update on the rehab progress in the Storybook area - don’t miss his comment below to learn also about the progress of the ongoing Dumbo rehab.

This entry was posted by Dirk on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 8:10 am and is filed under Disneyland Park. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.